The Fate of Memory
by Deona Lindholm
Summary: Spoilers throughout. Foretold by the Score or not, Cassa Reiner's destiny began with a single request...and she has no idea what is in store for her and 6 others. R&R! Chapter 6 up!
1. A Single Request

_The Fate of Memory_

_Chapter 1: A Single Request_

It had been Lorelei Day in Rem-Decan when Peony IX had made his decision.

Just a few days before, he had sent something very important to the other main country, Baticul, namely a letter. It was entrusted to three people, and one of which was a very dear friend of his.

That didn't mean he didn't have a backup plan.

After eating breakfast, he called over one of his men.

"Sesseman," he said, "I want you to summon Lady Reiner. I'll meet her in my quarters."

"Is it important?" The older man asked, sounding a bit suspicious.

It couldn't be helped, as it had become a rather popular rumor that when he asked a lady to meet in his quarters that it meant he would try to bed her.

"Yes, it is. And don't give me that look. If I even thought of such intentions, Lord Reiner would have me hunted down."

"Very true, Your Majesty. I'll summon her at once."

"Thanks, man. She's in the family manor, here in the capital."

00000

After pacing the floor in his chambers, walking around his pet rappigs, the young-seeming Emperor sighed loudly. The woman didn't live that far from the castle, if she was home at all.

_Don't tell me she's thinking the same thing Sesseman is...she's gotta know better than that!_

Before he could even think of stepping out, the older man had returned.

"Your Majesty, Lady Reiner is here."

"Good. Send her in."

He nodded, bowed, then opened the door, letting himself out first.

The person that walked in moved with a spirited step, though her expression was one of surprise, curiosity and confusion.

She would be considered a bit tall, but not as much as the man that the Emperor considered his right-hand man...maybe a couple of inches shorter. She wouldn't be exactly slight or frail, though she had a somewhat slender frame. As she shook her head, her back-length ebony black hair, in a ponytail, swung back and forth a little. Today, what she wore was a conservative, summer-blue gown, complete with puffed sleeves. The sort of thing you would expect a noblewoman to be wearing.

"My, this must be important if you're summoning me to this room, amongst the rappigs, Your Majesty," she spoke as she bowed. Her voice was not quite what one would expect out of the Malkuthian nobility, as it had a slight lilt and seemed rather frank.

"Ahh, cut that out," Peony replied, "I told you before, when we're not in public, call me Peony. Or should I start calling you Lady Reiner?"

Her face, complete with a few freckles, scrunched up as she replied, "Ugh! I told you, I hate that. I hate it almost as much as my full first name."

"Yeah, sorry," he said with a laugh, knowing that it was a stalemate with her. "I called you in here for a reason, Cassa."

"In your room? You'd better not be doing what I think you're doing."

"You've got to be kidding me. Like I told Sesseman, your father would kill me if I even thought it."

She frowned, then said, "Okay, I'll let that go, for now. If it's not for one of your libido routines, what is it?"

_Ouch, she sounds almost like Jade with that one._

He intentionally ignored it and put on a more business-face.

"As you may have heard by now, we had visitors here a few days ago, from Daath."

She nodded. "Yes. There were a lot of rumors about it, let me tell you. Who was it?"

"The supreme leader of the order of Lorelai, Fon Master Ion. With him was Fon Master Guardian, Anise Tatlin."

She raised an eyebrow at that.

"I've sent those two to Baticul, with a very important letter to King Ingobert VI."

"A peace letter? Or one of war?"

"Peace," he replied. "I've also sent one of my best officers with them, as protection. However...I've got a real bad vibe about all this."

"I don't doubt it. I heard from one of my brothers that the Order's been split into those two factions. Are you thinking one of them will interfere?"

"Maybe...or a malcontent in Kimlasca."

"Hmm. Okay, so what does that have to do with the summons?"

"I've got a big favor to ask you, Cassa."

"What is it?"

"I want you to take a letter to King Ingobert VI as well."

"What kind of letter?"

"The same one that the first entourage is carrying."

She frowned at him and asked, after a moment, "Your Hi--"

"Ah, ah ah!"

She blew out a breath and said, "Okay...Peony, why are you doing this?"

"If something does happen to the first bunch, this'll be so that the letter gets there safely anyway."

"Hmph. In other words, I'm a backup plan." She didn't sound amused at all with that.

"That's right. They won't be suspecting the daughter of one of Malkuth's noble houses bearing such an important letter. Plus..."

"Plus?"

"There's also the fact that you're a fonic sage."

That made her narrow her eyes at him. "Ugh. You sure like having the bases covered. That's not public knowledge, you know."

"Yeah, I know, thanks to your father."

She sighed again, then said, "Okay okay, I'll do it. I'll deliver that letter."

"Thanks, Cassa. I owe you one."

She cut in with, "I have one request, that'll make us even."

"What's that?"

"While I'm in Baticul, I want to make a slight side-trip. An old friend of mine lives in the city, a manservant of Duke Fabre. His name's Guy Cecil."

"Oh yeah, I heard of him. Okay, make your side-trip."

"Thanks a lot."

"One caution...en route, if you come across the Fon Master's entourage, I want you to cooperate with them. Got it?"

"Yes," she replied, "You mentioned that you had an officer with them. Who is he?"

"That would be Colonel Jade Curtiss, Third Division Commander."

Her eyes went wide, and her tone was one of surprise. "Aren't the 3rd Division Fonists? What's he look like?"

"He's a bit taller than you, gold-brown hair, red eyes. Wears glasses. Can't miss him."

"Glasses? Now you're putting me on," came her irritated reply. She was being serious, and the last thing she needed was for Peony, of all people, to be cracking jokes. "People with bad eyesight aren't allowed in the military. You _know_ that."

"He's a special case. Seriously, that's what he looks like."

"All right. I'll go home long enough to change into more apropos clothing and get my 'staff."

"Great. I'll have the letter to the King ready to go by then, as well as one to Jade by the time you come back."

"Okay. See you soon."

As she took off, Peony groaned and muttered, "I swear...those two have never met, but Cassa can be just as exasperating."

0000000000

On the way from her manor, the noblewoman had stopped by the pigeon keeper and ordered, "Send this letter to Guy Cecil. Duke Fabre's residence, in Baticul."

"M-my lady? That's in Kimlasca, a-and..."

"Do it!" she ordered, "There won't be any repercussions. Unless, of course, you intend to disobey an order from House Reiner--"

"U-um, m-my lady," he stammered.

She continued on, "By not sending a letter that's been permitted by the Emperor..."

Now the pigeon keeper was as white as a ghost. ""O-of course not, m-my Lady! I-I'll send this out at once!"

"Good. See that you do."

The pigeon keeper went, got his best bird, and attached the letter to it, in front of Cassa, then sent it off.

She had a rather satisfied look on her face as she paid the man a bit more than normal, then left.

By the time that Cassa stepped foot in the palace, an hour had passed since she had left. By then, her appearance was very much different. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail, but now was braided, and the braid wrapped around her head, like a crown of sorts. She had traded the blue dress in for blouse, tights and leg-boots that were all wood-brown. Over the blouse was a green robe with blue and white lines across the shoulders and collar. At her side was a brown quarterstaff with black tips.

When Sesseman looked at the woman, he had to do a double-take.

"What?" she asked, "It's rude to stare at a lady, even if she's setting out."

"My apologies, Lady Reiner," he said, "I didn't recognize you for a moment."

"If that's your reaction, I'll take that as a compliment. I don't want it broadcasted that the eldest daughter of House Reiner is going to Kimlasca." After a moment, she asked, "The Emperor wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Emperor Peony is in the audience hall."

_So this time it's all business,_ she thought. _Fine with me._

"All right, then, lead the way."

The elderly man lead the way to the Audience Hall, even though both knew that Cassa knew the way there.

"Wait here," he said to her, then went inside.

"Your Majesty," he called out, "Lady Reiner is here."

"Good. Send her in."

The doors opened and the old man nodded the woman in.

Cassa went in as she normally would, then when she was a short distance to the throne, she bowed in respect.

"You called for me, Your Majesty?"

"Yes. Stand."

She did so, smoothly and quickly.

"Lady Reiner, I hear that you'll be going to Chesedonia, en route to visit a friend?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well, then. While in Chesedonia, and before you visit your friend, I want you to visit Aston, and give him a parchment from me."

"Certainly, sir."

A guard took up some items from Peony, then handed them to Cassa.

She took a quick look at the items. One was definitely a letter to Aston, to cover what the Emperor had just said. The second one was to King Ingobert VI of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, her real destination...and the other one was addressed to Jade Curtiss, if she ever ran into his group.

"By Lorelai and Yulia, I will make sure that what you gave me will arrive safely."

The guards and Peony raised eyebrows. After all, by adding, "By Lorelai and Yulia" to a statement, one was taking the strongest oath to ever be invoked.

The Emperor had no other reaction to it other than nodding.

"That will be all. Lady Reiner, may the will of Lorelai be with you."

She bowed again, put the letters in a very safe place, then departed the palace.

When Cassa reached the port, she bought a ticket on the Katzburt Ferry, heading for Chesedonia.

"One should be arriving within the quarter-hour, ma'am," the ticket seller said to her. Sure enough, within 15 minutes, the ferry had arrived.

The sage boarded the ferry, carrying only her clothing, a bag with necessary items and her quarterstaff. She looked back at the grand city on the water, knowing that she would be gone for some time.

After all, any journey was liable to have its setbacks. They all did, even the exploits of legend.


	2. An Unexpected Runin

_Chapter 2: Unexpected Run-In_

_Lunaday, Rem-Decan 24, ND 2018_

It was mid-day when the ferry arrived at the Malkuthian port in Chesedonia. As the passengers on board started to descend from the ship, one of the other passengers was helping a somewhat green-looking black-haired woman down onto solid ground.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay, ma'am?" a young teenager asked, looking at the woman's strange complexion. "The seasickness will be around for a little bit..."

"I-I'm fine...thank you," she managed to reply without sounding fully rude. On this trip, after all, she wasn't traveling as a noblewoman.

"Okay, then...the Inn on this side of the border is straight ahead, and then up. Near the middle of the border is the head of the Merchant's Guild, Aston. He lives there. If you're looking to start a business, go see him."

"Thanks," she replied, then tried to stand on her own, instead of leaning on the boy. After a moment of not wobbling or tumbling, she took a deeper breath and started off for Aston's residence.

The sea-sick woman gradually became less green-toned as she walked down the sand-filled street.

_This place...it's definitely different. It's so full of sand, not a paved street in sight. How can the people stand things like this? I bet there isn't a fountain anywhere in sight._

When she looked to her left, she saw two entranceways...and both were paved in gleaming, white stone.

_Okay, so there **is** a paved street here._

She walked through one of the entrances, and went up the right-hand stairway. As she looked up, she was treated to the sight of the moon, suspended high in the blue sky, above the yellow of the lower-sky and desert. Right above the moon was faint traces of what she had learned was the fon belt.

"My...what a sight," she whispered, "It's beautiful."

After gazing at the moon and fon belt for a few moments longer, the woman turned to the doors and entered.

One of the servants turned to the woman and asked, "Um...may I help you with something?"

"Yes," she said, "I would speak with Astor."

"U-um, I think the master is busy with important matters...running the city and such. Perhaps you should return another time...?"

That irritated her. She was used to this sort of reply. After all, her father used it a lot when he didn't want to be bother by urchins and the common folk.

"What would you take me for?" she replied, "A simple commoner? I am on the Emperor's business. Now, go fetch your master, at once!"

As soon as she had uttered the words, she winced.

_So much for acting like an ordinary woman..._

"Hmmm? What's this about...?" she heard a nasally voice ask from behind one of the doors.

As that door opened, she could see a man dressed in rather gaudy (though apropos for the desert) clothing. He had a mustache and a large, red nose.

"S-sir, this woman insists on seeing you, knowing that you're busy--"

"Oh, it's quite all right. Come in, come in, ma'am, and follow me."

She nodded and bowed respectfully, then followed the strange-looking little man.

Once they arrived at Aston's office, he offered a seat to her.

"Now...may I ask what brings you here, and so urgently?"

She replied, "Ahh, you must be Astor. I have a missive for you, from Emperor Peony the Ninth of Malkuth."

He put his hand out and she gently placed the appropriate letter in it. He opened it and began reading it carefully.

"Ohhh...I see, I see!"

"Hm?"

"I assume you know the letter's contents?"

"You would assume falsely."

He nodded and handed the letter to her.

"My, my," she murmured as she read it, "He's certainly a crafty one, the Emperor is."

"I'll set up arrangements at the Inn, Lady Reiner—oops, I mean Miss Cassa. Can't have the people knowing who you are," he spoke as soon as she gave the letter back to him. "I'll also cover the cost. I suggest that in the morning, you go to the Kimlasca consulate and seek passage on a ship to Baticul."

"That's kind of you, but won't my--"

"Oh, don't you worry about the consulate. I'll have a word with the consul. You go ahead and get some food and rest for now."

"Thank you very much," she said as she stood and bowed to him.

"Aww, no need to bow to me, L—Miss Cassa. I am a simple merchant after all. Hee hee hee hee!"

As she walked out of the mansion, Cassa sighed and shook her head.

"Simple merchant, indeed."

00000

The black-haired woman shook her head again, muttering to herself about a certain Emperor, as she entered the Inn that was on the Malkuthian side of the border. Personally, she didn't care for the loud noise of the market so close by. However, she had learned, years ago, how to tune out such things.

Plus, there was the fact that she didn't really have a choice in the matter.

She went to the counter and said to the person behind the desk, "Excuse me...I'd like a room, if you'd please."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, but our rooms are full today."

Cassa frowned and then said, "I do believe that the head of the Merchant's Guild mentioned me."

The innkeeper blinked for a moment, then understood.

"Ohhh! Yes, you're right. He did mention you, indeed. Your room has been paid for, and it is upstairs, first door on the left."

"Thank you very much," Cassa replied and started off.

That movement was stopped when the person added, "Oh...I have a message for you as well."

"A message?"

"Yes, it's from a Guy Cecil."

_Guy?!_

"What's the message?"

"He says for you to come to the inn on the Kimlascan side as soon as you arrive."

"Thank you. I'll go see him right away."

With that, Cassa left quickly, wondering just what was going on.

00000

It only took about 10 minutes to get from the Inn on the Malkuth side to the one on the Kimlascan end, considering that Cassa had all but ran to the location. Once she saw the Inn, the sign written clearly in the Fonic language, she ducked between a pair of travelers and went inside.

She looked around, seeing that the innkeeper of this place was in roughly the same place as the one in Malkuth, then went up to her.

"Excuse me, would you tell me where Guy Cecil's room is, please? I got his message at the other inn."

"Ah, yes. Upstairs, second door from the left."

"Thank you," Cassa replied and paid the woman for the information before going straight up the stairs. Once she found the door she was looking for, she knocked firmly.

"Who's there?" she heard a voice ask, one very familiar to her.

"Guy? It's me, Cassa."

There was a shuffling of feet, and within a few seconds, the door was open.

"Hey!" He said with a grin, "It's been a while. If it wasn't for my, well...I'd hug you."

She chuckled and replied, "That's okay, I won't antagonize you like that. I got your message at the other inn."

"O-oh yeah. Come on in and sit down," he said, opening the door wider so that she could enter. She pulled a chair over close enough for a friendly chat, yet far enough so that his phobia would not kick in and sat down. Guy closed the door again and locked it, then sat in the other chair with a grateful nod.

"Guy," she said, "It's really sweet of you to come this way, just to meet a friend half-way."

"W-well...that's not why."

"Huh?"

"I-I mean I knew that you were going to Baticul and would be stopping by here in Chesedonia...but..." he trailed off.

"What happened?"

"W-well...a couple of days ago, on Remday, the Dorian General had come on urgent business, and got in some training with his pupil. During that, the manor was intruded on."

"Intruded? That's quite a feat, what with the White Knights."

"Yeah. It was a Seventh Fonist. She used a song to put most of us to sleep, then tried to kill Van. Luke decided to intervene, and this weird thing happened."

Her eyes widened. "A hyperresonance?!"

"Yeah, that's what Van called it. Thanks to that, Luke and the intruder got blown far away."

As un-ladylike as it seemed, she swore under her breath.

"Cassa, I've got a _big_ favor to ask."

"Looks like I'm doing favors for people I know this week..."

"What?"

"My business to Baticul is a state secret."

"Ohh, gotcha."

"What's the favor?"

"Would you mind helping me look for Luke?"

She grimaced at that. "Ugh. You know that spoiled brat and I don't get along."

"I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important."

She was silent for a moment.

"After we find him, we'll go straight to Baticul, so you can take care of your business there."

She let out a breath, then said, "All right. The only reason I'll do it is because you're an old, good friend."

He let out a sigh of relief, then said, "I was half afraid you'd say no."

"I just hope I don't regret this. My birthday Score didn't say anything about any of _this_."

"Heh. Who knows, maybe it's in that Closed Score."

She shrugged, then said, "I'd rather not disrespect Astor's gesture and leave right away. How about we both get some rest, then set out in the morning?"

"Sounds like a plan."

0000000000

The two of them had decided to leave just before dawn, so by the time that the duo had started crossing Rotelro Bridge, the sun was well into the morning position.

"What made you decide to go on this bridge, instead of taking a ship to Kaitzur?" Cassa asked when they were almost half-way across.

"Well, that's how Van went. No sense in both teams going in one direction, right?"

"Yeah, good point." She shuddered, then said, "I think we'd better hurry across this bridge. Come on, double-time."

He blinked at her for a moment, then asked, "Come again?"

"You heard me. I've got a bad feeling..."

He gulped, "When you get a bad feeling, it means trouble." With that, the two of them broke into a run.

When the pair was almost across the bridge, they had to stop and move to the side, for a coach was running straight down the middle of the bridge, throwing red-colored items. On the end of the bridge that Cassa and Guy were approaching, more of the items were stacked.

"Damn!" Guy said, "Those are Fifth Fonon based bombs."

"Keep running," Cassa snapped, "But get ready to jump overboard at any time."

"Y-Yeah."

Right behind the coach was a huge landship, one that seemed very new, moreso than any that the woman had seen before.

_If it's that new...is it the Tartarus?_

Cassa slipped her quarterstaff in its place inside her robe, then glanced at the bombs.

The ones at the end were starting to glow, and the landship was beginning to stop.

"We won't make it. Guy, jump now!"

With that order, Cassa put words to action and jumped off the side.

Guy gulped and swung off the side, letting go as he did so.

By the time that they had started swimming towards the shore, the landship had activated a barrier and the bombs on the bridge itself was detonating.

0000000000

After the bridge exploded from the fonon bombs, the commander of the landship, a man in a teal and white uniform with brown hair snapped, "Report!"

"The bridge has been decimated," one of the crew replied, "The coach under the Dark Wings' control managed to escape into Kimlascan territory. The one that you directed to move over is undamaged."

"Ship's status."

"No detectable damage."

"Hm. What I'd like to know is about that man and woman that was on the bridge when this happened."

"I saw them, Commander," the first crewman replied, "They jumped off the bridge and into the ocean moments before the explosion. They swam to shore."

"Hm. Let them go for now," the Commander mused, "We must continue on our mission. Resume course to Engeve."

"Yes, sir!"


	3. Fated Vision

_Chapter 3: Fated Vision_

After the close-miss at the Rotelro Bridge, Guy and Cassa continued eastward, having decided to go first to Engeve to gather information, then towards St. Binah and Kaitzur. Along the way, the two of them checked their inventory, seeing if anything needed to be thrown out or replaced.

"Ugh," Cassa groaned as she pulled out a bit of meat from her small bag. "The food's almost all no good. The sea-water got into a lot of it."

"We can replace a lot of it in Engeve," he replied, "how about the non-replacable stuff?"

That made her turn pale.

"Wh-what? What'd I say?"

Cassa said nothing and started checking in not only her pockets, but also in sections of the item bag. A moment later, she pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"Oh great," she groaned, "It's ruined."

"What is?"

"It's some paper...with part of an Arte on it."

"Well, you can make a new copy, can't you?"

"Yeah...thank goodness I memorized it."

Then Guy blinked. "Why is it so important to have a written copy if you know what it says?"

"Well...like I said, the contents are half of an Arte."

"What do you mean, _half_ an Arte?"

"Exactly that. The paper only has the second, fourth and last lines. I need a copy because," she replied, taking a breath, "If I ever find the other half, I'll be able to use it."

"Okay," he said, "as soon as we get to Engeve, we'll get some paper and pen for you."

"Thanks."

"Cassa, what are the lines that are on the paper?"

She replied, "'Combining the lightning of heaven with the flowing winds of time', 'Salvation or destruction, tell the tale here', and what I think is the Arte's name."

"Okay. How about your weapon? You still have it?"

"Yes, thank goodness."

"Okay, then. We'd better get going, towards Engeve."

0000000000

The duo's progress had been halted twice on the way to the grocer's hamlet, and by the time that they had arrived, it was already close to sunset. Cassa had been about to suggest going into the town when she saw something...a very large something.

It was a landship, the very same one that they had seen at Rotelro Bridge.

"Guy," she said, "Why don't we camp out here tonight? With that landship here, I don't think there is going to be room at the inn."

"But, what about that paper?"

"Don't worry about it."

He sighed, then said, "Okay. I'll get some food from the town while you set up camp. You do know how to, don't you?"

She shook her head.

"Okay then, I'll set up camp while you get the food," he amended, "As well as writing stuff."

"Writing stuff?"

"We might have to camp out here, but that paper's important, right? You'd better get that done."

"You're right," she said softly, "Thanks."

"Hey, it's no problem," he replied, "But..."

"What is it?"

"Can you find out why that landship's here? I mean, they'd more easily tell a fellow Malkuthian than they would me."

"I'm not traveling as Lady of House Reiner, remember?"

"You've still got a Malkuth accent, while mine would give me away."

"All too true. Okay, I'll see what I can do."

0000000000

By the time that Cassa had returned, the camp had been set up, and Guy was trying to start a fire.

The woman winced and set her things, which were in a bag, down on the ground, then took a deep breath and murmured something before pointing at the stack of wood.

The wood caught fire, causing Guy to jump back, making a startled sound.

"C-Cassa! You should've warned me you were gonna do that!"

"Sorry, I just wanted to help with the fire. It's all I can do..." she replied, a bit sad, then asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm lucky I didn't burn my hand. Cassa, if you're going to be traveling around like this, you've seriously got to learn how to make camp."

"Yes. I doubt this will be the first time we'll be camping out. Maybe tomorrow you can teach me?"

"Sure," he replied, "But for now...what did you find out?"

"Nothing, I'm afraid," she replied, "The villagers are clueless as to the landship's occupants...and the elder's as tight-lipped as I am with state secrets."

"Whoa...I know how tight-lipped you are when it comes to matters of state."

She continued, "I did get food, paper and pen, though, so I'll copy what I have of the Arte before I cook."

"Cook? You cook?"

"Yes, I do know how to cook," she shot back, "Unlike a certain spoiled brat we both know, I am able to do that."

"Hey now, I know you don't get along with Luke, but that's no reason to badmouth him like that."

"Guy, I'm just telling the truth. He is a spoiled brat. The only thing good I can see about the mess he's in is that maybe he's giving the intruder more than a single headache."

He chuckled nervously at that thought.

She sat down on the ground and took a hard, square item out of the item bag, the put the paper on it. Guy looked around as she started writing.

"Any idea where you might be able to find the other half of that?"

"Well," she replied thoughtfully, "My grandmother gave me that paper and told me that every generation, the words on it, the half-Arte, are copied, and the old one is destroyed."

Guy remained silent, listening.

"She also mentioned that an ancient family has the other half, also passed down through the generations. I don't remember the name of the family, not really...just that part of it sounds like a number."

"Sounds like a number, huh? Well, we'd better keep it in mind. It'd be great if you were able to use an ancient Arte like that."

"Hmm."

A few minutes passed while Cassa finished writing the lines, then she set the paper aside to let it dry.

"By the way, that landship..."

"What about it?"

"You looked as though for a moment, you recognized it."

"Not really," she replied honestly, "I had heard that my homeland had made a new land dreadnought, named the Tartarus."

"Oh really? Wonder what a ship like that would be doing chasing down a coach?"

"I don't know. That's what seems wrong about this, I guess."

He thought to himself for a bit while she got up and picked out some vegetables.

"What're you going to make?"

"Vegetable soup."

He shook his head in a surprised way, then asked, "How come a Malkuthian noblelady like you knows how to cook?"

"My grandmother taught me. She kept saying things like, 'Just because you're a noble of our pround country doesn't mean that you can't do things for yourself, like cook or sew.' Father didn't look too kindly on my learning some things, but...he couldn't go against grandmother on it."

"Too bad she didn't teach you how to make camp."

"I told you that I'd start learning that tomorrow!" she retorted and started to get up.

"Sorry, sorry," he replied. "Well, once we eat, we'd better get some sleep."

"Before we do, I'd like to do something in the morning."

"What's that?"

"Ask around about that landship."

He blinked, surprised.

"What? How come?"

"Because...well..."

"Cassa, is this another state secret?"

"Partly."

He groaned and said, "You and your state secrets..."

She simply glared at him.

0000000000

_Cassa found herself in the center of blackness. Although she could see nothing, she could hear, almost in the distance, the sound of wind...and the sound of a heartbeat._

"_Hm? What the...?"_

_**Cassi--**_

_She gasped at the half-word._

"_What in the...? What's going on?"_

_**Cassio...**_

_The voice was vaguely familiar, older and female._

"_Who are you?"_

_**Cassiopaeia...**_

_She felt the motion as she shook her head._

"_No, that's not who you are."_

_**Cassiopaeia...it has begun...**_

"_What's begun?"_

_**The beginning of everything...the end of everything.**_

"_You're making no sense!"_

_**You must follow the path...**_

"_What path?"_

_**You will see. You will learn. Begin with what you know.**_

"_You know, whoever you are...if I'm going to be doing whatever it is...you need to make sense!"_

_There was a moment of relative silence...then the strange voice spoke again._

_**Landship...follow the landship. The path begins with the landship.**_

_That was when an oval of light appeared before her, followed by a figure._

_Cassa had an arm over her eyes for a few moments, as the sudden light had blinded her. Once her eyes adjusted, she could discern some features of the person. The only things she could tell about the figure was brown hair as well as tinges of teal and silver._

"_Who the hell is that?" she asked, becoming irritated enough that she had actually cursed._

_A new voice appeared in the blackness, and this one was male._

_**Once you go after the landship, you cannot turn back. One step leads to the next, one encounter to the next. To follow the landship is to...**_

_That was when she felt something poking in her side._

"_...ey! ...assa! ...ake up!"_

_This voice that spoke urgently was a lot more familiar._

"_That's Guy!"_

_The light-shone figure began fading away, as did the voices._

"_That's right...I'm sleeping, aren't I?"_

_**Not everything in sleep is unreal. The warnings and this moment is real. Remember, it will all begin with that...**_

_She felt the poking more and more as she fought towards wakefulness._

_0000000000_

Cassa's eyes snapped open, her expression one of surprise.

Guy had been sitting somewhat close, poking at the woman's side with a stick.

As she sat up, she heard him say, "Whew! You're finally awake," as he dropped the stick.

"What do you mean, finally?"

"Well...it's been a few hours since sunrise. I've been trying to wake you up since the ship took off--"

"Wait a minute, what do you mean, the ship?"

"That landship from yesterday, remember? It took off an hour ago, heading to some woods in the north."

At the mention of that, she gazed off into the direction of Engeve.

"The path begins...with the..." she murmured.

"Huh? Cassa, what's going on?"

She scrambled out of her sleeping bag and without a word, she started rolling it up...or trying to.

"That camping lesson's going to wait."

"Wha--?"

Her tone became serious as she said, "We pack up and go towards those woods."

"Hold it, Cassa. You're acting strangely. What're we going there for?"

"We're going after that landship."

"Wait a minute. What about Luke?"

"That can wait."

"Cassa!"

"If you don't want to go that way, wait for me in Engeve," she replied, tone becoming a bit cold and most certainly determined, "I'm going after it."

He blinked, then sighed as he said, "I can't dissuade you to forget that ship, can I?"

"No."

He sighed again and said, "You're just as stubborn as Luke."

"Excuse me? Did I hear you say something?"

"N-no...just give me time to pack the camp up before we go to the woods, okay?"

"Fine."

Guy shook his head and asked, "What's gotten into her...?"


	4. Fated Meeting

_Chapter 4: Fated Meeting_

Guy groaned as stopped for a moment to wipe some sweat from his brow. On his back were most of the camp provisions, while his friend, Cassa, carried the rest.

"Ahh...Cassa...slow down," he called after her. The woman was a short distance away, her very demeanor exuding determination.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she stopped, looking over to him.

"We've been going...in a near run ever since...we broke camp. Even with my training, I'm not used to this..."

She frowned and said to him, "Maybe not, but we have got to go after that landship. If it went towards the woods, then we should catch up with it soon."

"Just why are you so dead-set on that thing, anyway? Is it so important that you'd drop looking for Luke?"

_Yes it is!_ She thought, but did not say. If she did, he would very likely part ways right here. Instead, she replied, "It has to do with...why I stayed asleep. Besides, if that landship turns out to be nothing, we'll resume looking for your master. All right?"

Guy was silent for a moment. His expression spoke that he didn't like it, but replied vocally, "Fair enough. But that dreadnought had better be worth it."

She nodded and made a come-on gesture before hurrying off.

"Ugh...man, she can be really stubborn."

0000000000

It would be half an hour later when the two found something that stopped them in their tracks.

Surprisingly enough, it was Guy that noticed it, while he was stopping only enough to take a few breaths.

When he looked up, he called out, "Cassa!"

"What is it?" she asked, a little irritated at being stopped again.

"I think...we just found your landship."

The mention of the target of the relentless pursuit made her irritated look disappear, and an anxious one replace it as she looked around.

"Ah! There it is, just southeast of us. "

"Looks like it's stopped," Guy said as the two of them switched directions, now hurrying towards the large object.

When they were close, she put out her hand to stop, then put a finger to her lips.

"Voices," she whispered, "One's familiar."

"Yeah," he said, then his eyes widened as he listened for a moment. "That's Luke!"

"It sounds like trouble," She said, then continued in an iron tone, "There's no time, so I'll cast a Fonic Arte that'll carry you towards the top. After that, I'll join you on the other side."

He nodded and dropped the camp equipment to the ground, then turned to face the landship.

"Good luck," she whispered, then took out her quarterstaff, grasping it in the middle with both hands. The woman then concentrated and began casting the Arte.

Within moments, Guy began to rise into the air, feeling wind all around him, as well as a solid flow of air at his feet, feeling almost like an elevator of pure wind. Seconds later, he was rising at a faster rate, coming to the top of the large landship.

_How am I gonna jump from there...?_

Guy saw the group below him. A woman was aiming what looked like two guns at a pair of people...another one, a pink-haired girl, had trained monsters to surround them...and another had trained a sword on...

_That's Luke!_

He drew his own sword.

A short ways over the top of the landship, he heard a sound of aggravation, and felt the wind surrounding him fading.

_Damn! The Arte's wearing off!_

With that thought, he faced the woman with the two guns and jumped away.

_This is gonna be rough..._

Without the wind from the Arte, he knew that he would have to use the woman to cushion his fall and adjusted his stance to do just that.

Although it seemed like minutes, it actually took seconds until Guy landed on something a lot more solid than air, and heard a grunt from below him. He then grabbed a green haired child that was behind the woman and got him away from her.

The people before him looked surprised, and Luke was both shocked and relieved.

"Enter the amazing Guy!" he said.

_Cassa, you'd better make it over here._

With his unorthodox arrival, the tables had turned. One of those being cornered, a tall man with brown hair, red eyes and glasses, wearing a Malkuth military uniform, materialized a spear and put it against the little girl's throat, while the soldier that had cornered Luke was knocked out.

"Aah!" the girl cried out.

"Arietta!" the woman called out after she got up.

The red-eyed man stated in an iron tone, "Now, drop your weapons once more and go back into the Tartarus."

_She was right, it's the Tartarus. But man, who would've thought that her going after this landship would take me to Luke?_

The woman with the guns complied, and went inside the ship.

"You're next. Take your monster inside."

Guy heard the girl address someone as "Fon Master", then heard the green-haired boy behind him telling the girl to do as she was told.

_The Fon Master? Here? Man, what has she gotten us into...?_

After the girl and monster went into the ship, the ports closed immediately.

"All the hatches should stay closed for a while," the strange-seeming man continued.

Luke breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Whew. Thank goodness. Great timing, Guy!"

"I looked all over for you. Never thought you'd turn up in a place like this!"

_Thanks to a stubborn old friend._

Guy remembered and looked around for his friend while the Malkuthian talked to the Fon Master, asking about another person. He caught bits of the conversation as he looked, but couldn't find her.

_I bet she decided to leave quietly, now that Luke's been found...I know she doesn't get along with him at all. She could have at least left my camping things..._

Before he could think another word, he found the things that he had taken when he left Baticul, a little bit beside the nose of the landship. He went and grabbed them quickly.

_Okay, Cassa..._

"Looking for someone?" the man from Malkuth asked, piercing through his thoughts.

"N-no...not really," Guy replied, deciding to respect her apparent decision and turned to face the others.

The other man looked about him, then nodded reluctantly. "As you may have heard, we'll be going to St. Binah."

"What about your troops? They're still inside this ship, right?"

"I can't imagine there being any survivors. If any witnesses were left, it would lead to war between the Malkuth Empire and Daath."

Luke faintly asked, "How many people were onboard?"

"This was a top secret mission, so half of the usual number were onboard – about 140."

"Over a hundred people, killed," Guy said just as faintly, feeling a little sick.

"Let's get going," one of the members, a woman with long, medium-brown hair, spoke, her expression cold enough to free blood, "if we're caught here, the war that follows will take many more lives."

0000000000

As the group walked down one of the paths, Guy couldn't help but look around him a bit...not only for company, but on the off-hand chance that he had misread Cassa's disappearance.

_Why do I have this feeling we're being watched...?_

There was a small thudding sound as the green-haired boy, the Fon Master, fell to his knees.

Luke asked, "Hey...you okay?"

The military man asked, concerned, "Ion...you used Daathic fonic artes aboard the Tartarus, didn't you?"

Luke asked if it was something that had been used earlier, a question that somewhat went over Guy's head.

"I'm sorry," Ion said, "My body just isn't built to handle Daathic fonic artes. A fair bit of time had passed, so I thought I recovered, but..."

"Let's rest here," the Malkuth man stated, "At this rate, we risk shortening Ion's life."

Guy nodded and set his things down, then sat with a sound of relief.

"By the way..."

"Hm?"

"Care to introduce me to your friend?"

The question threw Guy for a loop.

"What friend?"

"The one that used an Arte of the Third Fonon at the Tartarus...and the one that's been following us."

_What?!_

The brown-haired woman drew a knife and looked about her, eyes cold with suspicion.

Nearby was the sound of a rustling tree, one that had a medium-sized trunk and branches full of verdant leaves. A small, soft thud was heard, then a woman stepped out from behind the trunk.

_Cassa! You were following us after all!_

Luke groaned and said to Guy, "Of all the people, you had to bring that annoying, snoot-faced broad with you!"

The woman turned to the red-head and retorted, "Ungrateful as ever, you spoiled brat."

"What did you just call me?"

"If the slipper fits, wear it. I'd have thought that your father, at least would have taught you to respect your elders, _boy_."

The red-eyed man looked between Guy and Cassa intensely.

"It's you two...you were at Rotelro Bridge."

"Yeah, that was us," Guy replied sheepishly, scratching his head. "We were looking for Luke when we were there."

"That was rather...risky to jump from the bridge like that," the other man replied.

"Blame her, she's the one who—aaah!" He jumped and winced, twofold...because while he was talking, Cassa had come close and stepped on his foot.

Cassa then walked right up to the military man and gave him a scrutinizing look.

"...yes?" he asked.

"Hmm...brown hair, red eyes, glasses...are you Jade Curtiss?" she asked.

"Indeed I am. By your accent, I would say that you're from Grand Chokmah?"

Guy gulped and said, "Jade? As in 'Jade the Necromancer'?!"

"Yes, I am," she replied, then turned to the others, "I would speak to the Colonel in private."

"What's with you, snooty woman?" Luke asked.

She ignored it.

"I'd like to know why," Guy asked.

"So would I," the brown-haired woman added.

Cassa looked coolly at the group and said, "I don't discuss some things around civilians...especially _foreign_ civilians."

Guy nearly looked hurt at that, but remembered that she had said before that it was a state secret.

"Very well, then. Everyone else, wait here," the red-eyed man—Jade replied and waved to a grove of trees a short distance off.

Cassa nodded and followed him to that grove.

Once it was assured that they were not in earshot of the group, Jade faced her and asked, "We're out of their hearing. What is it you wanted to tell me?"

She looked him in the eye then said, "I have a letter for you, addressed by Peony IX, Emperor of Malkuth. I am also out and about on a...mission, assigned by him."

If he was surprised, it didn't show on his face. "A letter?"

She felt around inside her green robe as she said, "Be thankful that I kept the letter somewhere more watertight than an item bag." After a moment, she pulled it out of a compartment and handed it to him.

Jade took the letter and opened it, then read the contents.

"I assume you know what's written here?"

"You assume falsely," she replied.

"In that case, I'll show you."

_Jade,_

_If you've gotten this letter, it means my little 'messenger' made it safely. The bearer is Cassa, eldest daughter of House Reiner. I've sent her on a mission to Baticul as a back-up plan, in case anything happened to you and the Fon Master. Nothing better have happened, or you won't hear the end of it._

_Anyway, Cassa is to accompany you and the others on your mission. Don't worry about her being dead weight, she's far from it. Cassa's a very capable fonist. She also knows a couple of people in the household of Duke Fabre, so she may also be useful along those lines._

_Peony IX,_

_Emperor of Malkuth_

Cassa's glare was icy as she finished reading the letter. When she had accepted the Emperor's request, she had not expected to have to travel alongside a certain no good, spoiled...brat that Peony _knew_ she didn't get along with. The only thing that was good was the fact that he didn't say flat-out what kind of fonist she was.

"Peony, you're going to pay for this," she said in a low voice.

She glanced up as she handed the letter back to Jade and was surprised for a moment. For that split second, Cassa thought she had seen a sympathetic expression before it changed to an unreadable one.

"Lady R--"

She held up a finger to halt him and said, "I'm not traveling as a noblewoman. Cassa."

He nodded and continued, "Cassa, then. I certainly hope that the emperor's trust in you or your abilities will not be misplaced."

She replied, "So do I..."

"Also, don't expect me to treat you any differently than the others. As you yourself just stated, you've set aside your status as a noblewoman."

"That's fair enough."

Jade nodded and said in a somewhat low voice, "If only a certain noble was as cooperative."

Cassa shook her head and replied, "Luke? That spoiled little brat? Not only has he never cooperated with anyone in his life except for Van, he's practically useless!"

Jade smiled at her in a way that sent chills down her spine. "My, it's so nice."

"What is?" she asked.

"Oh, that someone is so vocal about her own mind. Especially when she isn't far behind him in the sheltered life department."

She glared at him icily, then said, "I'm nowhere near as sheltered. He's the one who's been locked up in his manor, not I."

"Is that so? We'll just have to see, now won't we?"

"You have that right," she shot back.

"Well then, shall we return to the others? Unless you want them to come here and listen to things that aren't their business?"

"Fine," she replied, then started off towards the others.

Jade stayed behind for a moment, smirking and shaking his head.

"My, she is going to be quite a lively one. Not that she needs to know how close her thoughts on Luke are to mine..."


	5. Surprises

_Chapter 5: Surprises_

_I do appreciate the positive reviews I've gotten for the story so far. As to the negative one, all I have to say is that there seems to be always one in a bunch...and to give a story a chance before you blast it. Also, a little error that Lady Draculae pointed out's been fixed. Thanks much, was too out of it to catch that last night.  
_

_Note: From this chapter out, if you see quotes followed by parenthesis, "(Like this)", it means that the person is speaking in Ancient Ispanian._

Guy frowned as he listened to the explanation. Just moments before, Cassa had returned from the private conversation and sat on the ground, looking pretty annoyed and shooting icy glares at Luke. A moment later, Jade had returned and explained exactly what both of their missions were.

"...so you're emissaries of peace," the servant said at the end, "I can see why both groups were classed as state secrets."

"Precisely," Jade replied, "Although, I didn't expect you to be chasing after the Tartarus, much less on foot."

"Blame her for that," Guy said, then asked quickly before Cassa could retaliate, "What I want to know is why Mohs is trying to start a war."

Ion replied in a regretful tone, "That's confidential to within the Order. I can't talk about it."

Luke grumbled at Ion saying that, which earned him a sharp "Shut up," from Cassa.

"Regardless of the reason," Jade cut in, "War must be avoided. We can't let Mohs interfere."

"Well, you've got yourself wrapped up in a big mess here, Luke," Guy said to the red-head.

"By the way," Ion continued, "Who are you two?"

Both Guy and Cassa stood and the man replied, "Oh yeah, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Guy. I'm a manservant in Duke Fabre's household."

Ion shook his hand, followed by Jade. The group then looked to the black-haired woman.

"...I'm Cassa Reiner. As Jade guessed earlier, I'm from Grand Chokmah."

It took her all she had to not follow habit and curtsy, but to shake hands instead as well. After all, she knew that a main reason for a handshake was for friend-or-foe markings to be placed.

The brown-haired woman then went up to Guy, who immediately jerked back a few inches.

She looked puzzled at the reaction. "...what...?"

Cassa sighed and shook her head.

"...Guy doesn't like women," Luke explained.

"It looks more like a phobia," Jade observed.

"It is," Cassa stated, "Even though Guy and I are old friends, even I can't get too close."

"Is that so...?" the colonel replied, eyes appearing distant.

The woman replied, "If it helps, you don't have to think of me as a woman," then tried to move in, which made Guy back up each time. After the third try, he stood in place, shaking worse than a leaf.

"I told you so."

She sighed at Cassa and said to Guy, "Fine, I'll keep my distance. Will that help?"

"I-I'm sorry, it's not you...it's just..." he weakly tried to explain.

"Mind telling me your name?" Cassa asked the brown-haired woman.

After a moment, she replied, "Tear. Tear Grants."

That made the noble lady's eyes widen with recognition, then she looked around her carefully.

"If you're one of Duke Fabre's servants, that means that you're from Kimlasca. Had you come looking for Luke?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, under orders from Duke Fabre. We knew he disappeared into Malkuth territory. I traveled by land and ran into Cassa in Chesedonia. I asked her to help and we went searching from there. Dorian General Grants went by sea and started searching from Kaitzur."

"Master Van's looking for me, too?" Luke asked, excited.

"My brother's here?" Tear asked.

"Your brother? Don't tell me..." Guy stared to ask.

Cassa immediately drew her quarterstaff with her right hand and extended the left arm, facing the path that they had come from and said, "Company!"

Jade opened his hand, and a spear materialized in it. "Oh dear, it looks like we ran out of time to chat."

The others immediately got up, and most of them drew their weapons.

A couple of seconds later, a group of Oracle Knights appeared. There were twelve of them, weapons at the ready.

"Pe...people..." Luke said weakly.

"Luke, stay back! You know you won't be able to kill them!" Tear replied sharply.

"You're not running away!" one of the Knights growled and charged in.

Jade moved into position and called out, "I'm casting. Cassa, I need support!"

"I'm on it!" she replied and immediately saw one one of the knights start towards the Malkuth Colonel.

Before the soldier could get a strike in, she had gotten in front of Jade and struck at the soldier with the quarterstaff.

"Nice try, but it won't work," she said to him, then whacked at the soldier's wrist to disarm him, using the staff, then connected with the neck.

A moment later, she heard Jade state, _"O mighty explosion...Energy Blast!"_

She chuckled for a half second as she saw the resulting Arte blast at one of the soldiers that was attacking Tear.

She switched her staff to her left hand and moved into position, her right hand moving to just above her left shoulder. "My turn to cast. I need a charged Water Field. Back me up!"

Jade nodded and saw one of the soldiers moving towards Cassa in order to attack her from behind. While Tear began to cast the required field, he moved quickly, then impaled the soldier without comment.

Guy, in the meantime, was going after a soldier that had decided to kill the hapless red-haired noble. He disarmed the soldier, then snapped, "Luke!"

A moment later Cassa saw the Water Field of Fonons surrounding her and completed her Arte.

"_Show my enemies the true meaning of frostbite! Blizarre Tempesta!"_

As she called out the Arte's name, her right arm raised fully into the air. A group of four Oracle Knights were surrounded by a large circle of snow and wind. After a moment, the circle closed in on the enemy, freezing them in place and killing them instantly.

"Whoa, nice!" Luke, who had seen the Fonic Arte, called in surprise.

"Admire later! Focus on the enemy," Cassa snapped, then winced as Tear took a hit from behind as a Knight got in a lucky shot. She lowered her arm for a small moment.

"My words exactly," Jade agreed and went after him.

The Malkuth woman began working a second Arte, right hand above left shoulder again. As she did, Guy took down another Knight with one of his own Artes.

"_O healing power...First Aid!"_

By now, the group had expected such a power from Tear. However, this time, the voice casting it was Cassa's. The light of the Arte surrounded the brown-haired woman long enough to heal the injury from behind.

"Thanks," she replied, then began focusing her power enough to sing.

_Fonic hymns? That explains her_, Cassa thought as she saw the necromancer going after the soldier that had attacked Tear, and saw one of the remaining enemy start to attack him from behind.

_I'm too far away,_ she thought, but the words that came out of her mouth were, "Colonel, behind you!"

He spun in place and brought up his spear to parry the overhead strike that the soldier had intended. The colonel then pushed him back enough to throw him off balance before stabbing him through the abdomen.

By then, Guy and Tear had taken out most of the remaining, though one was off-balance and weak.

"Luke! Finish him!" Jade snapped at the redhead.

Luke raised his sword, but began shaking and froze in place.

"Ugh...!"

That was all the enemy needed to disarm the boy.

"Luke! Snap out of it!" Guy retorted.

It didn't help, though, as Luke stayed frozen in place, even as the knight raised his blade to deliver what would be a killing blow.

Guy and Tear charged in, the female getting in front of the cowering noble, while Guy slashed out.

The enemy was cut in two, but not before delivering a blow to Tear.

Cassa glared at Luke before turning towards the injured woman.

"Tear...I...I..." The boy stammered, partly out of shock.

Tear was silent before muttering, "...you idiot."

"Stop," Jade said to Cassa, then went to examine the injury.

The noblewoman nodded reluctantly and let the necromancer work.

"It's not serious," he said a moment later, "But we're going to rest here for the night."

"I can heal the injury, easily--"

"I'm sure you can," he interrupted Cassa, "But you're starting to over-exert yourself."

"N-no, I'm not--"

He sighed in an irritated way, "You're pale and shaking a bit. I'd say you are. If you must heal her, wait until you've rested a little."

"All right."

Cassa looked down and saw that she was, indeed, shaking. However, she knew it wasn't from exertion. Something was dawning on her, now that the battle was over.

_That...I...did I kill humans, just now...?_ she thought. _My instructor said I would have to sometimes, but still...I had never..._

Guy looked at her for a moment, then said, "The camping lesson can wait until next time, Cassa."

"O-okay," she replied, then took a deep breath, trying to get the shaking under control as she sheathed her quarterstaff.

Guy then tapped Jade on the shoulder and said something in a low voice to him. The necromancer's eyebrows raised and he glanced at Cassa for a moment, before nodding.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a small blue and white bring popped out from behind Luke and bounced right over to Cassa.

"Hm...? Who are you?" she asked, and thought, _It's cute...!_

"Oh boy...! I knew I was gonna see lots of things, but not one of _you_!" a small, high-pitched, girl-like voice was heard, coming from the little creature.

"Shut up, Thing!" Luke growled.

"Mieuuu..."

"One moment," Jade cut in, "What do you mean, Mieu?"

"Mieu...? That's a Mieu?" Cassa asked.

"No. Mieu's a sacred cheagle," Ion replied.

"Oh? I've never seen a cheagle before," Cassa replied and reached out to scratch behind one of Mieu's ears, as she would with a dog or cat.

"Mieu, be kind as to answer my question," Jade cut in again, "What did you mean, one of her?"

"You mean Cassa being a Seventh Fonist? That surprised me too," Guy replied.

"N-no, I'm not a Seventh Fonist," she replied.

"But you use healing and attack Artes," her old friend countered.

Mieu broke in by saying, "I can see the fonons! Cheagles, even as small as I am, tell types of fonists apart."

"How so?" Jade asked, seemingly curious.

_Oh no,_ Cassa thought, stopped scratching behind the ears and said, "Mieu, not another word!"

"Mieuuu..."

"No, continue," the necromancer replied, "I want to know what you mean by that."

"So do I," Guy agreed.

"Same here," Tear joined in.

Mieu hopped up and said, "Cheagles can see fonons surrounding fonists, one color for each type. Jade has six fonons circling around him."

"Yes, because I can use the First through the Sixth. The Seventh is beyond my power," he admitted with some distaste.

"Cassa's got all seven surrounding her!" Mieu continued.

That made the necromancer turn abruptly and stare at her.

_Oh great...so much for secrecy._

"What? What's that thing talking about now?" Luke grumbled.

"Does what Mieu's saying make any sense to you, Cassa?" Guy asked.

"Now she really does look pale," Jade observed.

"Unfortunately...yes," the Malkuth woman replied, then sighed. "I wasn't lying...I am not a Seventh Fonist."

"Then how come you can use--" Tear started to ask.

"It's because Cassa's a fonic sage!" Mieu said quickly.

There were various reactions to this. Tear's mouth opened in surprise, Guy's jaw dropped in shock, Ion stared at her with wide-eyes, Luke looked confused and Jade stared at her as well, with both eyebrows up.

"Cassa, is that true?" Guy asked after a moment.

"Yes," she replied, sounding a bit defeated, "It's true. I'm a fonic sage."

"That's impossible...fonic sages only exist in fairy tales..." Guy replied, voice a bit faint.

"I'm no illusion."

Tear's voice was one of shock as she said, "The last time one was on Auldrant was 500 years ago...and before then..."

Jade added, seemingly mostly unfazed, "Before then, a fonic sage existed 2000 years ago. It's rumored that it might have been Yulia Jue." He paused before asking in a tone that contained an edge, "Did Peony know about this?"

"Yes," Cassa answered, "The only ones that know are the Emperor, my instructors and my father. Officially, I'm classed as a noblewoman with negligible abilities."

"That explains how you were kept out of the military," the colonel mused, then grumbled, "(Peony, you should have said so in that letter. Keeping something that high-level from me...you will pay for that.)"

Luke blinked, thoroughly confused, Tear acted as though she didn't hear anything, Guy coughed into his hand. Cassa snapped her head up and replied, "(If you want to exact revenge on someone, do it on Graham Reiner, not Peony.)"

Jade blinked then said, "You're fluent."

"Yes. It's taught right alongside the Fonic language in my family, so I'm equally fluent in both."

"Now I'm confused as all hell," Luke snapped, "What did you two just say, and what is a fonic sage?"

"None of your business, boy," Cassa replied coldly.

"Not quite as rudely put, but Cassa is right. It is none of your business what is said," Jade replied.

"Seventh Fonists are not that common," Guy started to explain.

"Yeah, Mieu told me. So?"

"Fonic sages are extremely rare. They can control all seven Fonons, so they're extremely versatile," Tear added.

"However," Cassa said, though obviously not talking to Luke, "It means I also have no strengths."

"No strengths?" Luke asked, "Wait, you mean like that saying, 'jack of all trades, master of none?'"

She winced but admitted, "That's what it means. Also, I can't do things like cause hyperresonance, and fonic hymns like those of Yulia Jue's are also out. Those are strictly for the Seventh Fonists."

"Well, as interesting as the topic is, we need to make camp before dark," Jade cut in curtly.

"Oh, speaking of which, Cassa," Guy asked, "What happened to the rest of the camping equipment? The stuff that was on you when we found the Tartarus?"

She looked a little sheepish and replied, "Well...for an Arte like I used to lift you to the top of the landship, I have to concentrate completely, blocking everything out. When you were little more than over the top...some monsters got a hold of the rest of the equipment. Sorry."

"That's why it wore off while I was in mid-air...well, at least I got the part that's got all the food and that half-Arte of yours..."

"Guy, I believe I said that _we_ need to make camp," Jade cut in, sounding slightly irritated.

"Y-Yeah. I'll get some firewood. Cassa doesn't know how to make tents and stuff yet."

"But she can do other things, I assume? Or are fonic sages only good for battle?"

"I can cook," she replied, "I cooked dinner last night, just outside of Engeve."

"Yeah," Guy agreed, "She makes a mean vegetable soup."

"Then while you get the firewood, Guy, Cassa can get the ingredients out for our meal."

0000000000

After the sun had set, Luke walked around, stretching his legs. He stopped for a moment to talk to Tear, then Guy, Jade and Ion.

Cassa sat on a log a short distance off, staring at the stars.

_The cooking turned out better than I thought, since I made soup for more people this time. But...I wonder...is this what the voices in the dream meant? When they said that once I started after the landship, I wouldn't be able to turn back?_

"Mind if I join you?" she heard from behind her, startling her for a moment. There was a very slight chuckle, then the voice continued reproachfully, "If you're going to be traveling and fighting alongside us, you need to be more aware of your surroundings outside of a battle."

She nearly glared at the speaker, but replied, "Luke is the idiot, not I, Colonel Curtiss."

"I would rather you call me Jade. I'm not used to being addressed by my family name."

"All right...Jade."

"Much better."

Jade sat down on the log beside her and asked, "I would assume that you stare at stars when you have things on your mind."

"Let me guess, those in your division have the same habit?"

"A few, yes."

She nodded and replied, "Thought so."

He was silent for a moment before he said, "That was your first time?"

"First time doing what?"

"Taking a person's life."

She looked right at him, shocked.

"Guy told me."

She sighed and nodded before looking down.

"Yes."

"Luke became scared...rather hesitant after his first time as well, and you saw what happened as a result."

"Well, I'm not like that."

"You're not scared?"

"Of course I am! Like you said, I had never killed a person before. But..."

"But...?"

"It's not going to do me any good. One instructor told me that my powers mean that I would eventually spill human blood, probably more than once. He also said that I would have to get past the feeling of the first time, or I would be killed in the next."

Jade nodded and mused, "Wise, that instructor. I have no doubt that you'll do precisely that...if you haven't already."

"Hm."

"How do you know Guy?"

"I met him fifteen years ago," she replied, "My family and I were in Saint Binah on business. Even with his problem, we got along well. When I remembered not to get close, that is."

He looked at her and said, "St. Binah, eh...? I'll let that be for now. How about Luke?"

"Ugh. Him, I've known since he was five or six. Before the kidnapping, he wasn't like...he is now. Ever since his amnesia, he's become, well..."

"So it's true? That our country kidnapped him?"

"He was kidnapped, yes, but I don't think we did it."

"Why not?"

"Something that high-profile even I would have heard about before..."

"Before?"

"Guy's the one that told me about it. I wasn't told why our country got the blame, just that the child was found somewhere around Kaitzur. Luke, back before then, was pretty likable. But ever since, he is a no good--"

"I do believe you've stated that opinion more than once."

"Hmph."

"Although..."

"What?"

"I don't believe that Malkuth was behind the kidnapping, either."

She said nothing to that.

"For being the famous Necromancer, your repertoire of Artes is pretty limited."

Though she didn't see it, he arched an eyebrow at her. "For one of Emperor Peony's closest friends, you are rather rude."

"Well, I never!"

"Yes, I quite believe it."

She hmphed at that.

"As far as my repertoire is concerned, it's due to the fact that one of the God-Generals decided to use a fon slot seal on me while on board the Tartarus."

She shuddered at that. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"The fon slot seal and for the careless remark."

"Well, I'll accept your apology...this time."

_Cassa is certainly more proper than a certain Duke's son, even if she is frank and rude._

"Well, now that _that_ is settled, I do believe that you should get some sleep. First kill reactions aside, you did use a lot of power today with both the Wind Fonon Arte and the battle with the Knights."

"Yes, I did. Thank you for the concern."

"You think it is concern? The fon slot seal already has caused a partial drop in my abilities, and it will take a long time to undo it. Between that and Luke's inability to kill humans, we already have a problem. The last thing I need is more dead weight."

"Hmph!"

Cassa heard the sound of footsteps going away from her, although she couldn't quite tell if she had been hearing things or if Jade had said, "Good night, Cassa".

She got up and went over to the campfire. A few sleeping rolls were set up, although there weren't enough for everyone.

_Guess I'll try sleeping on the ground itself._

Luke was already sleeping. She went over to Tear. Touching the injury to the arm, the sage quietly cast an Arte to heal it. The brown-haired woman nodded gratefully, but Cassa heard a hassled sigh from behind her. When she turned to look, Jade shook his head, with a disapproving frown and an icy glance.

She shook her head, picked a spot that wasn't too close to the fire and tried to find a comfortable position. As soon as she found one, she thought that maybe the nasty colonel was right about overdoing it. Almost as soon as the thought was finished she had fallen asleep.


	6. The Town of St Binah

_Chapter 6: The Town of St. Binah_

_Big time thanks to Lady Draculae, who caught a little error that was at the end of the last chapter. It's been fixed!_

_Also, I'm sorry this chapter is so late. RL interfered, in the form of my computer going south twice (The motherboard blew then a program looped) and my mother undergoing surgery for breast cancer. _

_Undineday, Rem-Decan 26, ND 2018_

_My name is Cassa Reiner. I have a longer first name, but I don't like it. I'm the eldest daughter of House Reiner, a noble family in the Malkuth Empire. It's mostly confidential, but I am also a fonic sage, a rare type of fonist. The only ones that know now are Emperor Peony, father, my instructors...and a group of 4 people I am travelling with._

_Out of them, 3 I know anything about._

_Guy is an old friend of mine, since 15 years ago. It's a bit weird, considering that I'm a woman and that he has a phobia against women. However, I usually kept my distance, so that there wouldn't be much of any problems. I ran into him in Chesedonia and he asked me to help him find his ward, Luke fon Fabre._

_Luke...ugh. What can I say? He's a worthless, rude, spoiled brat. He acts like the world owes him! Yes, he was inflicted with amnesia from an incident 7 years prior, and he was locked up in his manor since then, but that's no excuse for his attitude. The fact that I have to travel alongside him is something I really hate. But, considering circumstances, I have no choice. Peony made sure of that with a little letter._

_That brings me to the third person. Jade the Necromancer. At first, when the Emperor mentioned the man's name, I didn't make the connection between that and the famous moniker. Embarrassing._

_It looks like Peony wasn't joking about the man wearing glasses, even though he's a colonel in the military. I honestly don't know what to think of him. I know right now, he's nasty and a jerk. He's also very intelligent and a good fonist, even if he got slapped with a fon slot seal shortly before I met him._

_The day before was when Guy and I chased down a landship near Engeve, not knowing that it would bring us into contact with those 3 people and Van Grants' sister, Tear. But, it did._

_This morning, near a road, we were going to use a triangle formation to surround Luke, who had become afraid of battling human beings. In this respect, I can only partly empathize, because that day, I had also killed a human for the first time. I say only partly empathize because unlike him, I had been forewarned about it during training, and knew that I would have to get over the first reactions._

_Anyway, Tear, Guy and Jade were going to surround Luke and Ion, and I would take point in front of the triangle. The little brat decided, though, that he was going to fight too, even if it means killing humans, and take responsibility. It'll be interesting to see if he actually does put action to words, but I'll be honest. I don't believe him, and I don't even think he knows what he's saying at all._

_When we got to the entrance of St. Binah, we saw the city guarded by Oracle Knights. Yes, the same group that Tear and Van are with, the same group that we fought on the road yesterday. I was trying to think of a way past this when a pair of wagons from Engeve came by. We managed to talk the village's elder, Rose, into letting us hitch a ride into the city on the second wagon. Little did we know that things were just beginning..._

The small group, who had just parted ways with Engeve's elder, started looking about them. Amongst them, Cassa was chuckling as she did so.

"Guy..."

"Huh? Yeah, Cassa?"

"Remember when we met, 15 years ago?" she asked as she glanced at him in a certain way, "It was here in this town."

"Y-yeah," he replied, "I was pretty hungry when I got here, and short on gald. You got some food from the Inn and gave it to me."

"Oh? Even with his phobia?" Jade interrupted, glancing at the manservant and the sage.

"It wasn't easy," she replied, "Eventually, I had to leave the plate on the tiles and hope nobody else took it."

"After then, we got to know each other," Guy replied quickly, "As long as she kept her distance, that was."

"Hmm. Is that so? How interesting." His tone showed that it was anything but interesting.

"Hmph!" Cassa retorted, "You're pretty rude and snide yourself."

"Flattery gets you nowhere with me, young lady."

"Who said it was flattery? Besides, I'm--"

"Hey-hey! Cool it," Guy quickly said, "Aren't we supposed to find Anise?"

"...Yes. You're right," Jade replied, "and we can start with the Malkuth base, just north of this square."

The raven-haired woman looked in the direction specified, frowned and asked, "Isn't that McGovern's house?"

"Indeed it is. The General allowed the military to use it as his base."

She groaned and said, "If he and the Field Marshal are in the same room, there's liable to be trouble. They fight like father and son."

Jade merely nodded and started walking towards the mansion, only to be stopped by a small boy.

"Excuse me, but do you know a soldier named the Necromancer?"

Jade knelt down to the boy's eye level and replied, "Why yes, I do."

The reply startled the others a bit.

"Could you please give him a message for me? He's a soldier that gathers corpses so that he can bring back the dead. My dad was killed by Kimlascans...so, I was wondering if he could..."

There was a moment's silence before Jade replied, "I'll be sure to pass on the message."

"Thank you, sir! It's a promise!" the boy, a little happier, replied and ran off.

As the colonel got back on his feet, he could hear one of the others ask if what the boy had said was true.

"I dunno," Guy replied, "If that were true, I'd have some requests of my own."

"Did you lose someone?" Tear asked.

"Everyone in my family and household," he replied grimly, "It was the war. I mean, those sort of things happened all the time back then."

Cassa glanced at her friend with a sympathetic expression and asked, "Guy...that's still haunting you, isn't it...?"

"Oh, I don't know. Where there's smoke, there's fire..." Jade replied in a quiet voice.

"What?!" everyone asked.

"It's nothing. We should get going now," the brunette stated and continued onward.

00000

Inside the mansion that had become a military base, a pale-haired young man in a rather elaborate military uniform sighed and shook his head, standing away from a window that looked out into a beautiful and expansive flower garden.

"Father, we've gone over this already. Officially, the Oracle Knights are considered as Scorers, and without a direct order from his Imperial Majesty, we can't restrict their actions. You know what would happen if we did."

The person that the military man was talking to, a rather short, old man with a beard that touched the floor, snapped, "Enough! You know how horrible the Hod War became because of their involvement!"

"That may well be, but would the consequences of defying Scorers without proper authority be any better?"

Before the older man could make an appropriate retort, a younger, more familiar, voice replied, "I'm sorry for intruding."

Both father and son turned and were surprised by the group of 5 people that had just entered. Of them, at least one was recognizable.

"Jade the Necromancer..." the younger man remarked, not too happy at either the interruption _or_ the one doing the interrupting.

"Oh! If it isn't Jade!" the older of the two was more (and obviously) happy to see the blue-clad colonel.

"It's been a while, Field Marshal McGovern."

"I'm retired now," he replied with a shake of the head, "There's no need for formalities like those anymore. And what about you? Isn't it about time you accepted a promotion? Even at your age, you could easily have made Lieutenant General by now."

Jade shrugged and replied, "Ohh, I don't know. I already have my hands full just being a Colonel."

There was a sharp laugh from one of the others, a black-haired woman, and the retort, "Yes, I can easily see how you would be mired down."

Both men turned to the speaker and the younger one said, "My Lad--"

The woman glared at them icily and put up a finger. "I am Miss Cassa, or simply Cassa. Don't address me as anything else. Understand?"

The older McGovern's eyes lit up and he replied, "Ahh, I understand completely."

"Of course, Cassa," the younger replied, though his tone showed that he didn't like it one bit.

"Are those two important?" she could hear Luke ask.

"Sounds like it," Guy replied smoothly.

"You and his Majesty go way back, don't you? Maybe you could ask him to do something about these Oracle Knights?" the elder McGovern asked Jade.

"I'm afraid it's us that they're after," the Necromancer replied, "Once we leave, they should as well."

"What's happened?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you the details. I'm under direct orders from his Majesty. I'm sorry."

"What about you, Miss Cassa?" the General asked pointedly.

"The same applies to me."

That made both McGoverns grumble for a moment, before the General asked, "Colonel Curtiss, Miss Cassa...what brings the two of you here?"

"Ah yes, my apologies," Jade replied smoothly, acting as though he hadn't really forgotten, "Have you received a letter from a Fon Master guardian?"

"Ah, that. I'm sorry, but it had to be opened to confirm the contents, for security reasons."

"That's fine. There's nothing in there that would be a problem for you to see."

The colonel then took the letter from the younger McGovern's hand, read it, then handed it to Luke, saying that part of it was addressed to him.

Cassa looked at Ion a little nervously, who was gazing out the window at the flower garden.

_We haven't been traveling together more than half a day, but...he doesn't look too good right now. I wonder, is he frail?_ She thought as she walked to the window and stood beside him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"W-well...are you normally this pale?"

"Pale? Well, I don't get out in the sun that much, but..."

"But?"

"But I don't want to be such a burden. I'm already slowing everyone down--"

She hmphed and said, "Ion...I mean Fon Master--"

"Ion is fine."

"All right, then. Ion, you shouldn't let the ramblings of an arrogant, spoiled brat affect your opinion of yourself."

"You really dislike him, don't you, Cassa?"

"Dislike? Despise is more like it. I've known that brat for about 11, 12 years. Before the kidnapping, he was respectable, even for one of his position. Afterwards, he became what you see now. While the event was bad and caused his amnesia, it was used as an excuse to spoil him until he became as rotten as he is now."

"Oh, I see. You're certainly...tough."

"You mean hard on others?"

Ion didn't reply.

"I've been told that before. Although..."

"Hm?"

"I think that if there weren't those that were raised strictly, there would be more spoiled brats."

"Perhaps so. Were you raised so strictly?"

"Yes. Not just because of my abilities, either. My father believed that no matter what path I would take in life, such horrible upbringing and behavior invites disaster and destruction."

"And your mother? Did she think so, too?"

"She was in no position to give an opinion in my raising."

"How come?"

Cassa was quiet as she replied, "She died 15 years ago."

"I see. I'm sorry."

"It's all right. Besides..."

"What is it?"

"Well," she started to say, but after a moment, she shook her head. "I'll tell you more about the situation behind that someday. But now--"

That was when she heard a harrumph from behind her.

Both she and the Fon Master turned and saw Jade looking at them with a raised eyebrow.

"It's interesting to see you two off in your own little world while the rest of us are discussing our next destination."

"Excuse me?" she asked sharply, "You have no idea what you're talking about."

He raised an eyebrow and replied, "Oh, is that so? Mind sharing the conversation with the rest of us ignorant savages?"

Ion saw a dangerous flash in the woman's eyes and quickly said in a firm voice, "That's enough. If you are to know of that conversation, she or I will tell you later on. For now, where is the next destination?"

"Kaitzur," Guy replied.

Ion nodded then faced the Necromancer. "Jade, even for you, that was uncalled for."

"Yes," Glenn McGovern agreed, "I agree with the Fon Master."

Jade nodded at the hint in the General's voice and replied with that unreadable smile on his face, "Perhaps so. My apologies, _Miss_ Cassa."

_Why is it that he doesn't sound sincere in that?_ Cassa thought, but simply nodded and replied, "I accept it."

"Now that this little unpleasantness is dealt with, shall we be going?" Jade asked, though from his tone, it was an order.

"Yeah, I'll second four-eyes on that," Luke replied, "The sooner I'm back where I belong, the better off I'll be. Jeez, they're all such a pain!"

Jade acted as though Luke had not said anything and simply walked out of the conference room. Guy and Tear were right behind him, followed by Ion. Luke started forward when he felt a grip on his shoulders from a pair of hands. The owner of those hands tightened the grip and with a offended "Hmph", Cassa pushed him out of the room.


End file.
